JCC The JCC mixtape, Part I (archived - playlist on page 1)

A lot of the songs on this list are easy to make fun of if you're trying to be edgy and cool or whatever, but a good song is a good song and a lot of these here are good. Like Time of My Life, Wind Beneath My Wings, Hero, etc. I don't go out of my way to listen to songs like this a lot. They're just not my thing. But when I am in the mood for Mariah Carey's Hero, that is the only song that will do. Would I call myself a "fan" of Bette Midler or Mariah Carey? Um, no. Do they have some songs that are good? Sure. And I'm not going to say they don't, just because they're "cheesy" or whatever people want to call them. Some of them are, sure, and I can like them anyway; others actually aren't cheesy at all - they're just good. I look forward to listening to a lot of these songs again and to hearing the ones I'm not familiar with as well.

And I am a defender of the entire Grease soundtrack. Except the title song, I guess.

 

Grease is awesome

 

When I first saw this list I told myself I wasn't going to vote Time After Time straight away, no matter how strong the compulsion. But I can fight it no longer.

 

Welp I listened. Still voted for This is Gallifrey. Just can't not.

 

Haven't been able to keep up with this thread for the last several rounds unfortunately, but during this transition moment before the discussion of Fixxxer's list begins, I will just pop in to declare my undying love for Time After Time. Brings back so many memories of soulfully singing my teenage heart out into a hairbrush!

 

@DarthFixxxer very happy that we have another fan of VNV Nation!

My personal favorite of theirs is Further

 

aw, love that vid, Watto! Did not know that song. My fave Tracey Ullman track was "They Don't Know About Us" (another great hairbrush song from 1983!)

 

Well, at least it makes voting harder. Should be interesting!

 

Alright, here we go..... Some context:

• While I don't identify as a metalhead (cause I hate labels, they are limiting) I have listened to a huge quantity of rock and metal in life.
• I always listened to a lot of non-guitar oriented music, including a lot of electronica
• For the past ten years, almost 75% of what I listen to is electronic, chill, retrowave, soundtracks, symphonic and pop music
• So, even though a list with at least some rock and metal might be more representative of my taste in music, I have chosen to go thematic and keep this metal-less.
• As much as I loathe rankings, I absolutely love lists. So, here's one that I took good care of, taking a couple of hours to make and even longer to write about it.
• It is supposed to have a pretty good flow (other than one transition), and a good balance throughout, so I spent time even determining the order of songs.

So, I actually did not have Spotify and I was refusing to use it until 4 days ago, mostly because it sucks for the artists, who make pocket change. Instead I have been supporting smaller bands I follow and like by directly buying their music and merch either at concerts or on bandcamp. However, I installed Spotify for the sole purpose of participating in this Mixtape topic cause I love it, and am using a Free Trial version of Spotify Premium for two months apparently.

Now it turns out that I fell in love with their playlist function, so I kinda made an impulsive (and probably foolish) decision to create 88 one hour - twelve song lists, one for each official constellation, with a specific theme for each. The first one is called Andromeda, which provides a soundtrack for a trip on a spaceship to the namesake galaxy. In the meantime, if you like any of the songs, feel free to check the alternative suggestion for every song, as I had a list of another 10-12 songs ready to go, mostly from the same artists. Let's go to the list and provide some context for the songs:

1. Susanne Sundfør - Delirious
Six years and two days ago, the Norwegian prodigy's 4th album was released, with the title "Ten Love Songs" and what an astonishing collection of love songs it really is. I became familiar with this quite extraordinary voice after she gained a lot of fame by collaborating with M83 in the soundtrack for Oblivion (featured later in this list), perhaps the most underrated Tom Cruise movie. I cannot think of a better opener for my list, as her haunting voice creates a powerful and delirious introduction. Alternative suggestion : White Foxes by Susanne Sundfør.

2. Ulver - Machine Guns and Peacock Feathers
Kristoffer Rygg (aka Trickster G) is another musician from Norway, pretty famous in the underground scenes of black metal, folk metal, avant-garde rock, electronica, trip-hop and ambient sounds, and for the past decade he has created music that is far more approachable and accessible than his adventures in his first two decades of creating music. I have been listening to his music for 23 years now, and I think his latest two albums show a progress and evolution that has culminated from his entire life's work so far. This one was released just a few months ago, and is one of his catchiest songs. It has an "end of times battle" vibe, drawing inspiration from holy scriptures, Blade Runner and modern politics. Computers, democracy, and nervous disorder. Alternative suggestion : Nemoralia by Ulver.

3. Conjure One - Extraordinary Way
Moving away from Norway and going to the New World for the first time, and specifically Canada. Rhys Fulber is a musician and producer that has contributed in dozens of electronic projects, all of them being quite unique, and most of them being pioneers of various somewhat underground scenes, notably Front Line Assembly in EBM and Delerium in ambient (also featured later in the list). If you like my list, I cannot recommend Conjure One enough, as their music soundscapes are perhaps the most characteristic example of the vibe that I want to set with this selection of songs. This song features fellow New Yorker Poe and her extraordinary voice. I have loved this song since 2006, when I had my first break up after a long term relationship (the girl mentioned below) and for me it is a staple of rebirth and moving on since. Alternative suggestion : Kill The Fear by Conjure One

4. Chroma Key - Colorblind
Staying in the same continent but much closer (to me anyway), in Long Island of New York. Kevin Moore is a genius who started off his career by playing keyboards for the quite famous progressive metal band called Dream Theater with 3 childhood friends, before quitting the band in 1994 to pursue his own path. His first project was Chroma Key. Since then he has created ambient rock, electronica, trip hop and soundtrack music that I consider very unique and characteristic of his essence as a human being. This song is from my favorite work of his, called Dead Air For Radios, which was released in December of 1998. It was the soundtrack for the first time I fell madly in love (April 1999), and it always reminds me of those days with a feeling of bittersweet bliss, if that makes sense. It does to me Alternative suggestion: On The Page by Chroma Key.

5. M83 and Susanne Sundfør - Oblivion
We are going back to Europe, since M83 are an electronic duo from France, which I am sure most of you know, as they are one of two artists in this list that have gotten worldwide fame. This is the title track from the soundtrack of the movie with the same title, and it is glorious. It introduced me to the Norwegian goddess of synth pop, while also forcing me to explore M83 a lot more, since by that time the only M83 I was invested in was the spiral galaxy with the same name, as listed by Messier in his astronomical catalogue of Messier Objects 240 years ago next month. The collaboration with Susanne is absolutely fantastic, and I highly recommend the 11 minute long version, which is not featured here. A pompous epic anthem that I fell in love with the first time I listened to it. The movie is pretty great as well, if you ask me. Alternative suggestion : Starwaves by M83

6. Paradise Lost - One Second
Staying in Europe, but this time going to Halifax, in England. This one is a strange one. Exactly zero other Paradise Lost songs resemble this one, and it is definitely an outlier in their discography, even if they have released an entire (great if you ask me) album that resembles depechemodesque sounds (Host). Paradise Lost used to be one of my favorite bands, and they have mostly released music in the genres of death metal (not a fan of that brief era), gothic metal, alternative metal and dark rock. However, this is the song that actually intrigued me enough to search their music, all the way back in 1997. I am not convinced 100% yet that it fits the list, but I kinda think it does. Also, you guys can give feedback if you want about whether it sounds as if it belongs or not. I love this song, and have loved it for almost 24 years now.

7. Delerium & Sarah McLachlan - Silence
Anyone who was born in the 80s or 90s and does not know this song, must have been living under a rock. Though chances are, that most people know one of the countless dance remixes of the song, the DJ Tiesto remix, the Sancuary remix by Fade, the Airscape remix and the Niels Van Gogh remix to name a few. Even though I think this song works better in a trance/dance environment, its original version fits the theme of the playlist much better. The ambience created by Rhys Fulber (revisiting Canada here) and the absolutely fantastic Sarah McLachlan (Halifax, Canada this time, patterns anyone?) with her angelic voice is to me unparalleled and I think this song is the definition of perfection in any version. Alternative suggestion : The Sanctuary remix of the same song, by Fade.

8. Depeche Mode - Lillian
I could have gone with any other Depeche Mode song that I love (there are so many of those) but I decided to throw this in the mix, because it makes a pretty great transition to more electronic sounds, and also because I wanted to keep a semi-underground tone in the list, which only applies to the song in this case and definitely not the artist. I presume that everyone knows this band from England, as they are arguably the most successful electronic music band of all times. This song has a lot of importance to me, because along with song number 3 in my list, it also provided a soundtrack for post-breakup emotions and feelings back in 2006. This one, rather on the darker side. The lyrics are pretty straightforward and hardly ambiguous, the song speaks about heartbreaking and pain. Alternative suggestion : Sister Of Night by Depeche Mode.

9. Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes
Back to the US, with a song that I astonishingly discovered literally only 4 months ago. Which means, I must have been living under a rock myself, cause everyone else apparently knows this song. This composition is a collaboration of the DJ duo Gabriel and Dresden from San Francisco, with DJ Jes Brieden from New York, under the Motorcycle moniker. In this instance, even though there is a chillout remix of the song which would probably fit the playlist better, I decided to go with the original version, which as you can hear has a solid trance/dance character. I do like playlists that are a little more diverse, hence I went with this much more upbeat version. Alternative suggestion: The Chill Out remix of the same song by Motorcycle.

10. Mr. Kitty - After Dark
Mr. Kitty is from Texas and he describes his music as self-destructive synth pop, so who am I to disagree? The truth is that many of his songs have disturbing lyrics that seem to include phrases which condone self harm, and I most certainly don't subscribe to that, but I do love this song and its atmosphere. Another recent discovery, accompanied me during my last breakup chronologically, back in 2019. While the music sounds throughout the whole song as melancholic and bittersweet, the lyrics seem to actually be surprisingly optimistic and focus on pure genuine eternal love, which finds one of its best expressions in a warm after dark embrace. A song that makes me feel solace and calmness, and would always be a perfect soundtrack to stargazing. Alternative suggestion : What Else Is Out There? by Royksopp and Fever Ray (the only artist that didn't make the final cut, as I figured we had enough of Norway, but I truly love this song and it also gives interstellar vibes)

11. Perturbator and Greta Link - Venger
James Kent (aka Perturbator) is a French synthwave/retrowave musician, who has created quite a name for himself in the past 6-7 years, with his innovative aggressive retronostalgic music. Most of his stuff is very intense, so I decided to go with this mostly ethereal song, a rare occurrence where we don't have an instrumental composition by mister Kent. This was featured in a list 5 months ago, but I truly couldn't ignore it when making this list, as I think it fits perfectly. I have probably listened to this song hundreds of times since it came out in 2016. I have seen him live twice, and would recommend 10 out of 10, I would go again any given day.

12. VNV Nation - Perpetual
This playlist's secondary theme and message (after the whole space road trip soundtrack experience) is rebirth and reinvention, which leads to closure and personal victory. As such, I need to mention here that this song, which also came out in 2005 (same as songs number 3 and 8) is the third and last one in an unofficial trilogy of anthems that accompanied me during my break up year in 2006. This adorable guy from Ireland, who has resided and has made music in Germany since forever, Ronan Harris, formed his group called Victory Not Vengeance Nation back in 1990 to promote his message which is "One should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret".

There is not a single soul on the planet that is not family or friends, that has helped me more to let go of the past and keep striving for a better life and future, than mister Ronan Harris. I felt great inspiration with his music when I discovered it back in 2006, and this is my favorite song by his project. Let there be, let there always be, never-ending light. I have also seen VNV Nation live twice (2010 and 2013, both in Brooklyn) and I cannot stress this enough, but you need to have that experience once in life if his music speaks to you even a tiny bit. This song was always going to be the closer. Alternative suggestion : Illusion by VNV Nation.


PS1. My only request is that you all vote the song that touches your soul more, rather than the one that might perhaps be the most familiar to you already.
PS2. I hope you enjoy! This music is not exactly happy music
PS3. Apologies for the length of this post. I really really really like talking about music.

 

Haha, their 1st and 3rd album are literally the only ones I can't even listen to.
I love all the rest, including Kveldssanger.

 

THOSE ARE THE ONLY GOOD ONES. We're beefing now.

I also really like Kveldssanger.

 

I quite liked "Silence" by Delerium on this first pass, it has kind of a Bill Laswell but depressed vibe that I was really into.

Also, and I know this wasn't necessarily a goal, this was very good "working on a conference presentation" music. There's a solid through-line in the tracks that jives nicely with the rhythm of coding up slides.

 

That was the first song I recognized. Like a distant but distinct memory. I know the song well, but the artist didn't ring a bell, so I googled it.
Turns out Tiësto remixed it and that was his first big hit, back in 2000.



Now I recognize it a whole lot better. I must have heard this dozens of times in clubs, at varying degrees of consciousness.

 

yeah that tiesto version definitely used to do the job, even better if it came on say an hour after you arrived at said venue

 

Or I could have just read Fixxxer's anecdotes.

Anyway this playlist gets progressively better with each song. So the last song is the best one. I love it.

 

I think the level of activity shows that we might need a long break just to let everyone reset. But we do need to do a second round because I’ve cooked up a ****ing nightmare for such purposes.

 

Yeah I think maybe a month break or so would be called for. But I have my next list ready to go

And by the way if Watto doesn't want to keep doing the thread, I would be happy to help heels out.

 

I would do this but I know next to nothing about music other than I have zero taste

 

How about three months?

The formula works, I never expected we'd end up having 44 participants. So we should just do the same formula again. But people really need to feel out-of-rotation first.
All the thread really needs is a mod, so I don't think anyone needs to help, sj. What do you say @heels1785 ?

 

Three months is fine..maybe they'll be a few new songs to fret over changing in my list by then, but that's ok!

I will be listening to Fixer's list and reading his anecdotes soon.